Conventionally, carpenters utilize a claw hammer for extracting nails from wood. If the head of a nail is embedded in wood, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to withdraw the nail via a conventional claw hammer. Carpenters frequently carry along a pry bar which they utilize to initially pry the nails out of the wood so that a claw hammer can gain purchase on the nail. This necessitates an additional tool which adds to the cost and reduces the carpenter's efficiency. One device, sometimes known as a "cats claw", has been utilized to extract nails having the head thereof buried in wood, but once again a hammer must be utilized to sink the claws into the wood about the head of the nail.
Other devices have been provided for extracting nails but they are awkward to use and cumbersome so as to render them substantially useless by any tradesman.
Nail pulling apparatus constructed according to the present invention can be carried in a tool box, and easily and simply used to grip and extract nails from wood and the like.
Most nail pulling devices operate on the principal of a lever which is pivotal about a fulcrum and mounts claws at one end thereof for underlying the nail head to withdraw the nail as the lever swings. The lever necessarily moves in an arcuate path and forces the nail to also follow an arcuate path. Long nails extracted in such a fashion are generally permanently deformed and of limited further utility.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a nail extractor which is movable in a linear path to extract nails without bending them.
A nail extractor which operates on the lever principal must have the claws slid sidewisely under the nail head which necessitates an additional tool to partially extract the nail so that the claws slide under the nail head. Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a single nail pulling device which includes nail head gripping jaws that will radially expand to longitudinally slide over the head of a nail as the jaws are linearly moved toward the nail.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a nail extracting device of the type described which will easily grip the head of a nail that is embedded in wood and then linearly extract the nail.
The present invention incorporates radially expandable nail gripping jaws and a rotary member which is threadedly coupled to the nail gripping jaws to linearly move the jaws as the member is rotated. It would be awkward and unnatural for a carpenter to manually grasp the member and rotate the drive cylinder by hand and thus it is a still further object of the present invention to provide linearly movable apparatus for driving the rotary member to extract the nail.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a nail puller including linearly reciprocable radially expandable nail gripping jaws driven by a rotatable screw and a linearly reciprocable drive member movable in a to and fro path, and motion translating mechanism which will translate the linear motion of the reciprocable member to rotary motion of a screw and thence translate the rotary motion of the screw to linear motion which moves the claws to a removed position.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art as the description thereof proceeds.